This invention relates to an event finder with a navigation system or implemented in a remote terminal, and more particularly, to an event finder for searching events such as movies, sports, weather, news and the like through a remote terminal such as a lap top computer, personal digital assistant (PDA) and vehicle navigation system having a positioning capability.
Modern vehicles are equipped with sophisticated electronic devices such as multimedia entertainment systems, GPS navigation systems, internet access devices, and the like. This invention is directed to an event finder typically implemented in such vehicle electronic devices, although the present invention is not limited to the automobile use. The present invention can also be applied to lap top computers, personal digital assistant (PDA) devices, hand held GPS (global positioning system) devices, portable vehicle navigation systems and the like. However, for the illustration purpose, the present invention will be described mainly with respect to the vehicle navigation system.
When driving an automobile or travelling in town, a user may want to know whether there are favorite events nearby, for example, a movie. If there is a movie she wants, she further wants to know the location of the movie theater, start time and other information. If she has a cellular phone and knows the phone number, she may call the phone number and request the information. If she has a portable computer device with a wireless communication, such as a PDA with internet access capability, she may be able to obtain such event information.
However, for such information can be really useful, she needs to know her current location, how to get to the movie theater, what time she can arrive, how long she has to wait before the next movie start, and etc. In other words, without positioning capability such as GPS navigation system, such event information may not be very useful.
Thus, there is a need of a new and efficient way to obtain event information in combination with a navigation capability such as a vehicle navigation system. More particularly, a method and apparatus is needed for easily and cost effectively obtaining accurate information on events and guiding the user to easily and efficiently reach the places where such events take place.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an event finder which is capable of easily obtaining information on events associated with current locations of the user with high efficiency and flexibility.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for finding event information, displaying such information, and guiding a user to reach the place where such an event takes place.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an event finder and its display method which facilitates communication between a vehicle navigation system and an information server through wireless communication means.
The present invention is an event finder on a remote terminal for finding events such as movies, sports, weather, news and the like through a remote terminal such as a lap top computer, personal digital assistant (PDA) and vehicle navigation system with positioning capability. The event finder includes a display, a data terminal connected to the display for processing data, a navigation system for determining position of a user and a destination, and a transceiver for receiving event data from an event data server through a communication system. The data terminal associates the event data from the event data server with position information from the navigation system and retrieves event information based on a selection method specified by the user.
According to the present invention, the event finder is capable of easily obtaining information on the events and event locations associated with current position of the user with high efficiency and flexibility. The event finder allows the user to find event information, displays such information, and guides the to reach the event location where the selected event takes place. The event finder facilitates communication between the navigation system and the data server through the wireless communication.